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The woman in black
In an Edwardian era English village, Colchester, three little girls are having a tea party with their dolls in an attic. They are smiling and having fun when they suddenly look at something in the corner. Then they stand up and walk trance-like to a window and jump to their deaths with blank faces. Some years later, in London, widowed lawyer Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe), must arrange the sale of Eel Marsh House and visit to examine the papers left by deceased owner Alice Drablow. His legal contact Mr. Jerome sends him away, but Samuel Daily (Ciarán Hinds) and his wife Elisabeth (Janet McTeer) allow him stay at their home. Though most of the townsfolk treat him coldly, he finds companionship in the local tavern hand, Mrs. Fisher, who still grieves the loss of her three daughters, the girls from the opening scene. During his initial visit to Eel Marsh House, Arthur is distracted by odd noises, and subsequently, the appearance of a spectral entity in funerary garb. He hears sounds on the marshes of a carriage in distress and a screaming child, but sees nobody on the causeway. Upon his return to the village, Arthur attempts to alert the village constable. Though he remains adamant about what he saw, the constable assures him that no one has used the causeway in years before retreating to his study. Before he can react further, two children enter the station with their sister Victoria, who has just ingested lye. Despite his pleas for assistance, the girl collapses and dies in Arthur's arms. Though ruled as a suicide by the town physician, the locals blame the death on Arthur because he saw the alleged "Woman in Black". That night, Sam reveals he and wife Elisabeth lost their young son to drowning. Elisabeth suffers from fits of hysteria, which she attributes to her boy speaking through her. Onto the table, she carves a figure hanging from a beam, before Sam sedates her. The next night at the Eel Marsh House, Arthur finds correspondence between Alice and her sister Jennet Humfrye (Liz White). Jennet denies Alice's verdict of "mentally unfit" and demands to see her son Nathaniel, whom the Drablows formally adopted. A photo of the Drablows is defaced while Arthur's back is turned. A death certificate reveals that Nathaniel drowned in a carriage accident on the marsh. Jennet blames Alice for saving only herself and for leaving Nathaniel's body in the marsh without a proper burial. Jennet hangs herself in the nursery, vowing never to forgive Alice. Arthur also sees visions of dead children in the marshes, with the Fisher's daughters and Victoria Hardy among their number. The locked nursery door swings open, and the knocking sound of an empty rocker lures Arthur inside. The Woman in Black appears hanging from a roof beam. He runs outside to find Sam. Back in town, Mr Jerome's house has seemingly caught fire with Jerome's daughter (who'd been barricaded in the basement at the time) still inside. When Arthur attempts to save her, he sees the Woman goading the girl into immolating with a flood lantern. After witnessing her suicide, Arthur flees the building as it collapses. Upon his return, he sees the entire village looking on the scene. As they did with Victoria Hardy, the townspeople blame Arthur for the death and solidify their resentment of him. Elisabeth says the Woman is Jennet, who appears before she takes a child away by having them commit suicide. Arthur's young son Joseph, who is coming to Crythin Gifford the next day with his nanny, is Jennet's next intended victim. To lift the curse, Arthur and Sam find Nathaniel still in the carriage on the marsh, and place the boy's body in his room. Arthur lures Jennet to the body. Arthur and Sam bury Nathaniel with Jennet. The next night, waiting for the train to London, Arthur sees the Woman in Black on the other side of the platform while Joseph walks entranced on the tracks towards an oncoming train. Arthur leaps onto the tracks to save Joseph, while Sam sees the Woman and dead children's faces in the train windows. After the train passes, Arthur opens his eyes to darkness. He looks around as Joseph asks "Who's that lady?" Arthur's late wife waits farther down the tracks, revealing that Arthur and Joseph were killed by the train. The family vanishes into the fog together while the Woman in Black looks on and then turns to face the audience.